Be Careful What You Wish For
by The Smokey Gerbil Cloud
Summary: Mercedes Crest was part of a military mission, a Top Secret one. When months later she is offered a position on the ARC team, how will she deal with the creatures, the team, and her life at home with her dead sisters daughter and husband? Becker/OC
1. Chapter 1

(A/N): Hey Guys, this is going to be an eventual Becker/OC, I never write short stories, I always feel they need more detail, so please, stick with the story for a while, I promise that Becker will be in the next chapter. Hope you like it, I'm writing the second chapter now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Anything you don't recognize (so basically everything) is of my own imagination.

_**8 months earlier**_

_Heat radiated across the sands as the sun blazed down on the group of six soldiers as they trooped towards the crumbling mess of abandoned houses over the rocks littering the soft sand beneath their feet. Their leader, a woman of a mere 26 years old, signaled for them to split up into groups of two and search the shelters for survivors or rebel fighters. They did as she said and soon the only two in sight were her and the young but tough man who had been closest to her at the time. This young man's name was Jacob Gibbons, a promising cadet that was on his way up in the world, that is, until this mission. He pressed his back to the wall on one side of the shoddy wooden door that hid the inside of the house from the soldiers, just as his commanding officer, the woman, had signaled for him to. She held up one finger, then another, and finally a third before twisting the ancient looking door handle and pushing the door open, both her and Jacob spinning into the entrance, guns aimed and ready to fire on sight. They relaxed their hold on the triggers slightly as they saw nothing was in the house, and moved onto the next one. This time, as they made their way towards the entryway to the house, the door blasted open, splinters of wood flying as a native rebel fighter emerged, a large machine gun at the ready. As he caught the soldiers by surprise, he had the upper hand, shooting the young cadet in the chest twice and once in the stomach. He aimed at the woman, who dodged out of the way as he fired, narrowly missing getting hit. She leveled her weapon and shot the man in the heart from her position on the floor and thanks to his unprotected clothes he died instantly. She crawled over to the mans side, checking for his pulse and finding a very faint pulse. _

"_You lucky son of a bitch." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Man down! We need back up on the East Side of the rebel camp!" She yelled into the transmitter she had clipped to her shirt. The reply was a short confirmation of a medic on their way. She applied pressure to the wounds, the only serious one was the one on his stomach, the other two in his chest had hit the heavy metal case he always kept in the front of his military assigned vest, the thick metal keeping the pictures of his family safe from the elements and pillagers seeing as it had a combination lock only he knew the solution to. She pulled it out slowly to inspect the damage, finding only a few rather deep dents and a large gouge in the front. _

"_God, he's going to kill me if the pictures are ruined." She groaned, slipping the case back in his pocket, patting it with one hand for luck. The medic soon arrived, and patched up Jacob with the things he had in his kit, frequently commenting on how lucky he was to survive. Leaving Jacob in the capable hands of the medic, she took the risk of searching the houses by herself, without backup. She searched house after house, finding nothing threatening until she reached her seventh house. Opening the door, she entered the main room, her gun raised at the ready. She stopped herself just in time from pulling the trigger as she saw humans. The reason she stopped herself was the fact that they were, 1: not a threat, and 2: children. Huddled in a corner were a bunch of young children the most at around twelve years of age, the youngest a little six year old girl. The woman lowered her gun and crept towards the children, kneeling in front of them._

"_Hey guys. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" She whispered, reassuring the kids. She faltered as she saw a large shape covered in an old sheet behind the group of kids. Moving forward, she pulled the sheet off slowly and gasped as it fell to the floor, revealing a large and messy machine she could clearly tell was a bomb._

"_Jenkins? You there?" She asked over the radio, keeping her eyes on the bomb._

"_Yeah, I'm-" The transmission cut off with a pair of screams, ones she recognized as that of Randolph Jenkins and his partner Jennifer Haroldson. _

"_Hello? You guys alright?" Her voice flowed over the transmitter, and she received no answer. "Jenkins?" Again, she received no answer. Worried now, she tried the other group. "Kessler? Paisley?"_

"_Crest? Is that you? We found Jenkins and Haroldson, they're dead, looks like they were ripped apart." She could hear the disgust in John Kessler's voice, he had worked with the other two for years, and she knew he wouldn't take this lightly. _

"_Jesus Christ…" She muttered, shaking her head. "Okay, I need you over here, Gibbons is injured and I found a bomb surrounded by a bunch of children." She heard the sharp intake of breath from the other side of the transmitter. _

"_We're on our way." The woman breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the bomb and children. _

"_Right." She helped the children to stand up and led them outside, telling them to stay there. Going back in, she approached the bomb. Big enough to incinerate anything within about a few meters radius of the house, oh wonderful. "How far away are you?" She asked over the line, waiting for the other two to come pick up the children._

"_We're almost th-" Paisley's voice turned into a scream, and a feral growl could be heard, along with the tearing of fabric and flesh. _

"_Guys!" She yelled over the line, her only response was the dying screams of her friends. She glanced at the bomb, before racing outside and grabbing the children, running towards the edge of the rebel village, dragging the children behind her. She soon spotted the blood stained sand spot where she Jacob had been shot, and was glad to find both the medic and her friend weren't there anymore. She sped up as she heard the feral growl of the beast that had killed her friends. She flicked a glance back and gulped as she saw how close the grey, skeletal predator was to her. Its razor sharp teeth were visible as they stuck out of its un-proportionally large head. She vaguely remembered wondering why it had no eyes, that she could see anyway, as she raced away with the children in tow, the creature picking them off one by one. She was gasping for breath by the time she was approaching the camp, the creature still close behind her. Soldiers emerged from their tents to see what the children were screaming about as they ran for their lives. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a bright light, and unconsciously turned he head to look at it. The golden orb looked to be made of shards of glass as it hovered in the air, the creature turning towards it, heading to it, giving her enough time to drag the remaining kids out of harm's way. As the creature reached it, it passed right through disappearing into thin air. The woman glanced down at the three remaining kids and gulped as she tried to regain her breath. Even though her legs were weaker than they had been when she finished her training at Sandhurst, she still managed to take the three children to the Infirmary, just in case. The nurse insisted on checking on her, and after finding no signs of physical trauma, released her into the care of her commanding officer, officer Fell. He gestured towards the main tent and started walking, knowing she would follow him in. He held open the door flap for her, and once she was in her let it drop, gesturing again, this time to a chair on one side of a table. She slid into the hard wood chair as Fell settled himself in the chair opposite, between the other two officer's already seated beside him._

"_Mrs. Crest, today's events are to be strictly confidential to everyone who wasn't part of the operation. If you tell anyone without government permission, you will be sentenced to spend some quality time in a jail cell. Do you understand?" Fell raised an eyebrow, and the other two continued to smile creepily at her._

"_Yes sir, I understand." She replied, nodding politely. "Although. May I ask what that creature was?" A stern expression formed on officer Fell's face._

"_They were predator's of some kind. We advise you not to try and find out more about these creatures, they are dangerous, and not to be messed with." A dark glare descended on the woman's face and she jumped up, knocking her chair over as she did so, placing her hands on the edge of the desk._

"_You don't think I know that? I know that they are dangerous, they killed everyone on the mission except for Jacob and I! Besides, it went through that- that- glowing thing, how would I even _try_ to 'mess' with it?" Her commanding officer shook his head._

"_We weren't trying to suggest-" She shook her head, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips._

"_I know, and I know I can't tell anyone, not that they'd believe me in the first place. This is strictly classified, and I know that, so can I please leave now?" They nodded reluctantly and she rushed out of the tent into the hot desert sun._

**Present Day**

A sigh of relief passed through my lips as I unlocked the door to my apartment, a long day was ending as I set all my stuff on the cupboard, before glancing around at the familiar furnishings.

"Jake?" I called, tilting my head to try to see inside the rooms blocked slightly by the dividing wall behind the couch. A head popped out from behind the door frame.

"Hey, you're back! Did you get the call?" I grinned and gave him two thumbs up.

"You are now looking at a new member of the ARC team." Jacob smiled back and came out of the room holding Eliza in his arms.

"Hey sweetie." I cooed as I grabbed her under the arms, pulling her to my chest before swapping her to my hip. Jacob Gibbons and Elizabeth Crest, my twin sister, were High School Sweet Hearts, and just over four years ago we found out that Eliza was pregnant. We were all happy, until the day came when she was due to give birth. We had driven to the Hospital, and we sat with her until it started, and the doctor's told me to leave so they would have room to move. A few hours later, I was told that she had died giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, and they didn't really know why. So, I entered the room and sat with my brother-in-law and niece. Jacob named her Elizabeth Annabel Gibbons, after her mother and Jacob's mother for the middle name. So, for the next four years, we looked after her, and when we went on missions Jacob's mother, the same Annabel, would watch over her. Though, since the last mission with the predators, Jacob had quit the military, realizing that if he died Eliza would be an orphan, and since he was healing from the gunshot wound, he wasn't much good at looking after her. I had been given time off to regroup after the last mission, and to help Jacob, but since then I had been offered the chance to interview for a job at the Anomaly Research Center, and today, while out food shopping, I had gotten the call to say that I had been accepted into the new team. So, tomorrow, I would go to the ARC to be introduced to the other members of the new team I would be working with. I hope they aren't idiots, I don't think they'd last very long.

(A/N): If you think that my character, whose name you don't know yet if you haven't read the summary, is a cold-hearted bitch, she isn't she just has some issues, and besides, she was nice around Eliza, wasn't she? Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'm going off to write the next one right now, so keep watching for it.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N): Hey guys, it's the second chapter! 4,252 words without the Authors note! I would like to point out to my second reviewer Air Bender Aang, that although your review was interesting, the flashback at the start of the previous chapter wasn't in the future, but actually in her past, in the desert of a war torn country. I used the houses in the Afghanistan desert as a reference. The Future Predator came through an anomaly, and since the ARC was shut down at the time there was no ADD to detect it. I've actually got a major twist brewing further on, like, after I've finished writing up to the end of Series 5, so I hope you look forward to that. I would also like to thank lezzles1956 for reviewing. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'm sorry about how long the bit about her getting ready is.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Mercedes, Jacob, Eliza and Elizabeth.

I groaned as my alarm chimed into my sleep with its familiar and aggravating chirp, alerting me that it was five in the morning. I sat up immediately after, knowing by now that if I didn't I would fall asleep again. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I swung my legs over the side of my bed, shivering as my bare feet touched the icy wooden floor. I stretched my arms over my head, cracking my neck and back in a fluid motion, flexing my knee's to ready them for the day ahead. Yawning, I shuffled over to my walk-in wardrobe and pulled out the clothes I needed before pulling open the set of draws and pulling out my undergarments. I hopped quickly across the tiled floor of the bathroom, shivering in my thin, over-sized shirt. Setting the clothes on the towel rack, I turned the water on full cold before throwing my nightwear in the clothes bin in the corner and stepped into the shower, gasping as the freezing water cascaded down my back, doing its part to wake me up. As soon as I decided I was awake enough, I turned the heat up bit by bit until there was a steady stream of hot water warming my body. I pumped the shampoo into my hand and massaged it into my thick black hair before rinsing it out again. I sighed and let the water coarse down between my shoulder blades, working out the tension pent up there. I pushed down on the pump of the conditioner bottle and smoothed the resulting liquid over my hair, coating every strand in the refreshing smelling conditioner. I used the shower gel to clean all the dirt the water didn't catch off of my body before rinsing out the conditioner and wringing out my wet hair as I turned off the shower. Stepping out of the shower onto the bath mat I grabbed my towel from the rack and dried myself off before pulling my clothes on. I unwrapped the hair drier and set to drying my hair out. When my hair was as dry as I could get it I wrapped the drier back up and set it back on the hook it had come from before grabbing the hair straightener from the drawer, if I didn't straighten my hair it was going to be just unmanageable by the time I could even eat breakfast. By the time my hair was as straight as I could make it, it was past 5:30, so I ran out of the bathroom, pushing down the plunger on the toaster and pulling the marmalade from the cupboard across from the stove. I fished around in the cutlery drawer for a knife while sliding the margarine container across the cupboard, ignoring the need for a plate. I pulled the piece of toast from the toaster, nearly burning my fingers on the edge of the four slot metal toaster. Setting the toast on the counter I quickly buttered the piece before adding a scraping of the marmalade, placing the knife in the sink behind me so it didn't wake Eliza up. I shoved the jar back under the counter and shoved the food in my mouth, chewing quickly while running to the bathroom again. Swallowing the last chunk of my breakfast I squeezed a string of toothpaste onto my toothbrush, breathing out before shoving the brush in my mouth and cleaning all remnants of the food from my teeth. Rinsing the toothbrush I threw it back in my drawer, ignoring the clatter it made as I pulled my hair into a pony tail. Rushing from the bathroom I stopped into Eliza's room, placing a soft but swift kiss on her forehead, brushing her blonde hair from her sleeping face. I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my keys, hurrying from the house and into the car. Turning the key, I reversed the car out into the street and drove away from my apartment and towards my new job at the ARC.

It was just past six when I reached the Anomaly Research Center, driving into the underground car park and parking the car close to the entrance before turning the cars power off before opening the door and climbing out onto the concrete, my combat boots making muted thuds against the ground as I turned and threw my jacket onto the seat. Shutting the door I clicked the remote for the alarm, hearing the familiar blip of the car alarm activating. My stride was strong and swift as I crossed the small amount of concrete to the elevator doors, pressing the number for the main floor, the hub, they had called it. The army green cargo pants I wore stopped a centimeter or two above the bottom of my boot, allowing me to keep my legs warm but not to trip over the edge of them. The black tank top I wore allowed for comfortable arm movement and covered the necessary bits, though I was the slightest bit chilly without my jacket. I stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close before leaning back against the metal wall, sighing and closing my eyes for a few seconds before composing myself, my face a perfect mask of stern indifference one I was sure I was going to need when Eliza grew old enough to date. I breathed a calming breath as the door slid open almost silently and strode into the glossy surfaced, openly designed room, noting the computers taking up most of the occupied space. I heard a quick clacking noise, accompanied by a slight squeal and a sliding sound, before the sound of a relieved sigh found my ears, and a slightly surprised looking 19-year-old girl turned the corner in front of me and grinned like a Cheshire cat as she saw me.

"Oh hello! You must be one of the new team members! I'm Jess Parker, the new field Coordinator." I looked at her clothes and gave her a small smile.

"You know, if you said you were the new team leader I would have freaked out about your clothes, but since you'll be running everything in here, I think you'll be fine with your heels. They look nice on you, I wouldn't dare to wear heels, the fact I can't run in them unnerves me a lot." She looked a little uncertain, but smiled anyway. "I'm Mercedes Crest, but you can call me Sadie, everyone else I know does." She smiled brightly and I resisted following her action.

"I wasn't actually sure whether you were a man or woman, because the only name I got for you was 'Crest', so you really could have been either, and I didn't get a file for you like I did with the other two team members. Lester, the boss, wouldn't let me read it, something about it being 'classified' or something." I grinned at her back a she walked slightly ahead of me, still rambling. Pulling the mask back on I glanced around, my eyes sliding from on high-tech machine to the next. I hadn't seen this many computers since High School, and definitely none this intelligent, I can assure you.

"Um, Jess…What do you know about the others? I mean, I would at least like to know their names before I meet them." She smiled at me sheepishly, realizing that she had been rambling on for the past few minutes while I had looked the place over.

"Well, there's your Team Leader, Matt Anderson, and the Military Captain, Becker. Quite impressive those two, Matt has established himself very well in many professions, he also climbed Mount Everest." I raised an eyebrow and silently wondered why he would put that on his resume. "And Captain Becker trained at Sandhurst," I raised an eyebrow again, looks like we trained at the same place. "Before becoming part of the Special Operations Team, he was then switched to the ARC Team two years ago and was part of the old team, employed to try and keep them all alive. He was fighting an uphill battle really, first Nick Cutter was murdered by his insane wife Helen, then Abby Maitland, Connor Temple and Danny Quinn went through an anomaly to the future to stop Helen while Becker distracted Christine Johnson's men. Then came the death Of Sarah Page, another member of the team who was killed by a Future Predator during the last of fourth rescue missions they sent after the missing three members. It's tragic really." Jess finished, turning back to her computer and typing something in. So, this Becker saw his friends and colleagues die before his eyes, or watched them disappear into an anomaly? Looks like we have another thing in common besides training at Sandhurst. "Do you know when they're meant to be arriving?" A slightly disappointed and embarrassed look crossed her face and I instantly felt bad. "Not that I don't like you, it's just that I'd like to meet everyone sooner rather than in a life or death situation, you know?" She smiled and I thought about the way she kind of reminded me of my sister, naive, way too nice and could make you feel good or bad with a single smile or frown. God dammit, talk of reincarnations.

"Yeah, they should be arriving later today." I smiled behind her back as I thought of all the rushing I did this morning and how unnecessary it was. "Just so you now, I'm not usually this excited, it's just that its been me and the creatures all alone for the past two weeks, awfully lonely, but very interesting." I pitied her, two weeks all alone with no people, just the creatures that could rip her head from her shoulders any second of the day? God, I don't think I'd be able to survive.

"Would it insult you if I said thank god?" She giggled, so I assumed not.

"No, I'll take any socializing I can get." I sent her a small smile and she replied with a large one. "Well. I guess you need the tour." She sighed, and led me over to the largest computer in the room, which was actually three computer screens joined together. "This is the ADD, the Anomaly Detector Device. I, or the other replacement if I'm needed elsewhere, have to be near it at all times once the others arrive." I looked the system over, in awe of a computer that big.

"Its kind of pretty." I commented, pointing at all the glossed edges and the fact it shone and stood out above the other computers littered down the sides of the room.

"I thought so too." Jess smiled, typing something into the system, watching it for a second until it beeped. "Nothing unusual detected." She said with a tone of voice that sounded like she was proud of the large machine, and I guess, if I were as interested in computers as she was I would be proud of the magnificent machine too. "That office up there belongs to James Lester, the man responsible for everything the ARC's done since it was built, but now, with the public-private ownership, this place is Co-owned by Philip Burton, a top scientist with his paycheck in the millions. He doesn't come in very often, he prefers to get his information through Lester." I nodded and noted this fact for future reference. "It's required that you watch a video from Burton, it's right this way." I trailed after her reluctantly, I always hated the shit rich people put in their welcome video's. After listening to some drabble about how he was glad to have me working for him, Jess led me back out of the room, and directed me down the corridor's, showing me all the labs and science-y stuff before we reached the place I was really excited to see, the armory.

"All right!" I exclaimed as I saw all the guns lining the walls, and sitting on the tables, just mocking me with the fact I couldn't fire them at anything yet.

"Actually, the Matt Anderson ordered non-lethal weapons to be used, so you'll be using these, the EMD's." She gestured to the wall I had my back to, and upon turning I whimpered in despair.

"I have the feeling I'm not going to like this guy. But eh, at least I get weapons." I said, picking one of the rifles of the wall and looking at it curiously.

"The highest setting is designed to take down a Tyrannosaurus Rex, so be careful where you're pointing that thing please." I noticed the barrel was pointing at Jess's face and quickly lowered it to my side.

"Sorry." I replied sheepishly, placing the EMD back on the wall. "So, what does EMD stand for?"

"Electro Muscular Disruption weapon." I smiled slightly at the wussy name for it, why couldn't they name it something awesome, like 'The Death Ray' or something? After her saying this, she practically dragged me from the room and showed me around the rest of the place, even showing me the outside of the menagerie. When we got back to the hub she sat me down at a computer and set up my password, allowing me to use the computer to basically anything I wanted, considering we'd be waiting a while. I sighed the familiar Google homepage loaded, and I decided to just give up and play pinball until the others arrived.

Two hours later I was spinning around on my chair, slouched down with my eyes closed, letting the wind blow over my face. I heard Jess giggle as she turned around to check on me, only to find me slacking off, just like the last time she had checked, except this time there was no pinball filling the computer screen. I pulled my mobile phone out of my pocket and saw a message from Jacob pop up on the screen. Rubbing my eyes to get them focused again I pressed the open button and chuckled quietly as a picture of Eliza covered in her mushy banana food. I opened the new message folder and quickly typed, 'What the hell did she do?'. Only a minute or two later did a reply message appear on the screen. 'I thought it'd be a good idea to switch on the TV to the cartoon channel, turns out the cartoon had a food fight in it. She covered us both.' I chuckled again. 'Tell her I'm proud of her.' I typed back, my fingers moving soundlessly across the keys. 'Will do." Came his last reply, followed by a smiley face. I smiled warmly as I revisited the earlier picture of Eliza covered in banana, a spoon full of it prepared to fling in the direction of Jacob's phone. I pressed the button to remove it from the screen but not before I saved it to my pictures. I slid my phone back into the pocket of my pants and stood, stretching my legs. Unfortunately, my stretching was interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors sliding open for the first time in two hours. Jess stood and rushed to the elevator, and approached the man who had exited it's side.

"Captain Becker! Welcome back to the ARC! Well, the new ARC. You have no idea how good it is to finally have some company here." Jess gushed, tripping over her words as her excitement bubbled to the surface again.

"I'm supposed to report to Parker…" He said, looking slightly confused. Jess held out her had, a large smile on her face.

"Jess Parker, at your service." He took her hand and shook it carefully, looking her up and down.

"You're- You're the field coordinator?" Jess let go of his hand, still smiling.

"Sorry, I'm not usually this crazy, promise." She apologized, sobering up a little. "Well, not unpleasantly crazy. Only, I've been here on my own for the past two weeks, just me and the creatures. Well, and Sadie for the past two hours." She said, gesturing to me as I spun side to side in my chair slowly, watching them with a tiny smile on my face. "I've been going through all the mission reports."

"Fun." He commented dryly, turning back to Jess a he said so.

"No! They're good, really, best part is I already feel like I know you, and Abby and Connor and Danny…" She trailed off seeing the slightly weirded out look on Becker's face. "Um, if you want to come through, I'll get you set up." Becker sighed with what sounded like relief as Jess led him down towards my position on the chair. She handed him a file as he lent against a tabled, and he started to flip through it. "Matt Anderson, new team leader. Or, will be. Lester wants you to look this over, see if everything's okay." Becker looked over at her.

"Lester still chooses the staff?" He asked before gesturing to the roof with his eyes. "Though the ARC was privately owned." Jess tilted her head side to side.

"Well, fifty-fifty government/private."

"And Lester still reports to the minister, not this Nobel prize winning bloke from Prospero? What's his name?" Becker asked Jess and she glanced back at me before looking back to him.

"Philip Burton. He seems to have to keep both of them happy." She replied in answer to his earlier question of which Lester reported to. "Pretty impressive CV." Jess commented on Matt Anderson's file, looking over Becker's shoulder as she did so. "All the stuff this guys done, you think he'd be old and crusty, but he's not, he's young. Fit too."

"Hm." Becker half laughed, and Jess glanced at him again.

"What?" She asked, staring at Becker now.

"Nothing. Nothing. Is he the only candidate?" He asked, holding up the folder to Jess.

"Got to the bit about Everest?" Jess asked, earning a squint from Becker.

"The way some people feel the need to…boast, about things." Becker commented, still looking down at the folder.

"Insecure much?" Jess asked before spinning and starting to walk back towards me and the ADD.

"Excuse me?" Becker asked quietly, staring at her back before getting up himself and following her. Jess spun around to face him again.

"If you're going to put the brakes on this guy for being _too_ good, that would be pretty lame." Becker shook his head, looking confused.

"I'm- No one's putting the breaks on anyone!" he denied, staring at her as she sat at the chair in front of the ADD.

"He's ex military, decorated for heroism, he's an expert in animal behavior and he's got countless glowing recommendations, he's perfect." Jess pointed out, her eyes still on the screens.

"I merely meant whether he was the only candidate!" Becker explained as Jess turned to face him again.

"Anyone would think you didn't want to be better than you were." Jess insinuated and Becker looked at her face again before realizing what she was doing.

"Ah, I see, you're making fun of me." Jess laughed.

"Totally. Just checking to see if you smiled, and you do!" She said as a grin formed on his face. "Which means so far, you're way better company than the mammoth." Becker chuckled quietly and started to turn away before turning back to her and rubbing his pointer finger against his cheek.

"Oh you've um- you've got a little…something. It's disgusting." He started to walk off and I swept my gaze over her face and smiled as I saw nothing on her face. Fortunately, she didn't know this so she grabbed the small mirror at the front of her desk and inspected her mouth before looking at Becker's back, sighing but chuckling at the same time. As Becker walked away from Jess his eyes found me, sitting low in my chair with my legs crossed. Damn, it would make a better impression with a skirt, or even tight pants. Oh well, at least these are comfortable. I stood as he approached me and held out my hand, the mask of indifference forming on my face again.

"Captain Becker, sir. I'm Mercedes Crest, but I'm asking everyone to call me Sadie, it's shorter and easier to say out in the field. Or, just call me Crest, I don't really care." Becker smiled slightly and shook my outstretched hand just as Jess walked by and slapped wristbands on both of our wrists. Pulling back I inspected mine.

"Not to ask the dumb question, but what are they?" I asked, glancing at her curiously.

"Your ID. Matches a reading of your skin. Scan doors to gain entry and it won't work for anyone else if you lose it." I sent a small smile to Jess.

"Awesome." I flexed my wrist and swung my arm around to make sure it didn't restrict my movement or anything. Jess disappeared again and I glanced at Becker and we shrugged before following her slowly. By the time we reached her she was talking to a man, this must be the new Team Leader, Matt Anderson.

"You must be Matt Anderson." Becker said, voicing my thoughts. "Welcome to the ARC." Matt nodded.

"Good to meet you." He replied and I heard an Irish accent in there.

"Lester tells me you might have a problem."

"We don't really have to get into this now, but as it happens, yeah, I think the security teams should be in Civvies." I glanced at Matt, then at Jess who was sending me a look that said 'Becker's going to blow.'

"You're- you're ex-army, right?" Becker asked, looking at him like he was slightly stupid.

"I just think the whole black things a bit conspicuous."

"Conspicuous? It promotes unity and gives my men authority in the field." Becker argued, and Matt glanced at Jess.

"Well I suspect the big guns will have the same effect."

"Uniforms promote public confidence, _especially_ when weapons are involved. Neither Nick Cutter nor Danny Quinn ever had a problem with them." Becker pointed out.

"Well we can talk about this again, can't we? Why don't you just show me around?" Matt suggested.

"Of course. Let's start with the armory, shall we?" Becker said, starting in that direction.

'Good luck. He's nice, really." Matt glanced at me before Becker called for him to hurry up.

"It's fine, you can meet me later." I said, waving him off and he began jogging after Becker. I followed Jess back to the hub and sat there in a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the regular tapping of Jess's nails on the keyboard. After a while Matt came back behind Becker, and Becker left to take care of the new security upgrades. I stood as Matt was talking to Jess and waited patiently with my arms behind my back. Eventually, Matt and Jess stopped talking and he turned to face me holding out a hand.

"Matt Anderson." I shook his hand before returning it to its place behind my back.

"Mercedes Crest." I saw Matt's eyebrow twitch and I glanced at Jess to see that she was watching us intently. "But everyone here is free to call me Sadie, it's more convenient and I like it better." He smiled and nodded.

"Crest huh? I've heard of you and your sister." Jess craned her neck curiously as I resisted the urge to cringe at the mention of my sister. Even though it had been four years I wasn't exactly over her death yet.

"Really? In what context?" Elizabeth and I were well known on many facts. One being the fact we were top in our class, second that we had both been commemorated for bravery, and the third being the fact we got up to a lot of trouble in Sandhurst.

"Oh, quite a few." At this time Becker entered the hub, and after casting a slightly suspicious looking glance at us, lent on the ADD desk next to Jess. " You two were the top of your class were you not?" I nodded in conformation. "That and the fact you both were excepted into Sandhurst at age sixteen is quite a feat in its self." Out of the corner of my eye I saw both Jess and Becker raise eyebrows. I smiled back at Matt, an actual smile before dropping it and glaring at him.

"Say what you want, flattery can't command my respect." I replied before spinning around and sitting in the chair next to Jess's. "So, what are you two up to?"

(A/N): So that was the second chapter, I hope you liked it! Next chapter I am hoping to write soon, but I have to finish my homework by Monday and its Saturday night and I haven't even started. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend guys!


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N): Hey guys! You know how last chapter I said that i would stop and do some homework? I lied. This is the result of me not doing my homework, in its 1,020 word glory. In less than I reckon and hour I have written and uploaded these last two chapters. I would like to thank my reviewers, the one form the first chapter, and if there are any others from the second chapter I thank you, but I haven't had time to check just yet. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I only own Mercedes, Jacob, Eliza and Elizabeth.

A few days later Jess escorted me to the meeting Matt was holding with the rest of the staff, plus those of us on the field team, and on the way she told me about what Becker had said when he had found out that Matt had ordered in the EMD's.

"He looked furious! I was actually slightly scared!" I rolled my eyes in amusement and glanced back at Jess.

"Trust me Jess, if you were only slightly scared it means he's a lot tamer than I am. If I was angry about it you'd be more than a little scared for your life." I replied just before we turned into the medium sized room with the two roller doors on one side and joined Becker just before Matt stepped out in front of everyone.

"Okay guys, for those of you I've not met properly, my name's Matt Anderson and I'm your new Team Leader. For the last couple of days your esteemed colleague Captain Becker has been bending my ear on every detail of this operation to ensure that you lot are properly looked after. So I would like to assure you that safety, the safety of this entire team, even the safety of Captain Becker is my number one priority. Your jobs are demanding, your jobs are dangerous, you put your lives on the line to protect the public every time that alarm goes off. There's no room for errors, there's no time, for on the job training. So with all of that in mind, some new policy changes are being implemented. All new field operatives will be strictly military, or from a military background. Safety will come first, there will be no more civilian recruiting. Now if anyone wants to talk about this, my door is always open. Over the last few months, a lot of you have testified to the last mission of the old ARC. Well yesterday that investigation was officially wrapped up. Abby Maitland, Connor Temple and Danny Quinn have been pronounced missing, presumed dead. I would like to make it clear today that this means absolutely nothing. Over the years, this organization has lost many brilliant people, including Nick Utter, Stephen Hart, most recently Sarah Page, but as far as I'm concerned this does not include Abby Maitland, Connor Temple and Danny Quinn. These people could still be out there fighting to stay alive, fighting to make it home. I didn't have the chance to work with them all as you did, but I hope that someday I will. So today, as your new Team Leader I am rejecting the governments findings. We're not giving up on these guys. Not yet." I clapped as his speech came to an end, and I thought to myself that maybe he wasn't going to be so bad. He seems to be a good leader, and that's all we need him to be able to do other than shoot an EMD.

After we left the room together Jess dragged us all to the hub, saying she had some equipment she needed to show us. What she placed in our hands was a palm sized black plastic box with three blue lights on the front and two plugs sticking out from the top.

"Bit big for a tracker isn't it?" Matt asked, fiddling with his in his hand, looking it over.

"They also collect data from the anomalies and part of a new comm system. With these in I can monitor and record everything you say while out in the field." Jess explained as she sat cross-legged in her chair.

"Is that necessary?" Matt asked, glancing at Jess.

"Of course. If anyone gets into trouble, everyone will know about it immediately." Becker stated, picking up the ear phone with the metal hook that goes around your ear.

"Are these only on during an alert?" Matt asked, and I was glad he did, I was curious about that too.

"Philip and Lester want them on at all times, just in case." Jess replied, watching as we looked them over. "The range on them is amazing, but unfortunately they will stop feeding back if you go through an anomaly." Jess informed us and Becker looked up from the box to her.

"Well how is that even an issue? Policy's strict, no one's to go through, not for any reason." Jess looked shocked and tried to tell him that she didn't mean it like that, but he wasn't listening.

"Everyone's been briefed, everyone knows the rules. I'll go and hand these out." Becker said, stalking away.

"I wasn't suggesting anyone should go through." Jess tried to explain to Matt but he shook his head.

"We know. He'll calm down." I smiled genuinely at Jess and she gave me a surprised grin back as I turned and strode after Becker.

"Becker!" I called down the hall after him, causing him to stop and turn to face me, waiting for me to get close enough to him before he started walking again. "Jess wasn't trying to suggest anyone should or would go through, she was simply saying the risks, in case, I don't know, we get knocked into one by a giant prehistoric lizard." The side of Becker's mouth quirked up slightly at the last bit of my comment.

"I know, I just…ugh, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt." He explained, slowing down until we were just barely moving forwards.

"And no one will, because everyone knows the risks, we all have the advantages of a warning story. Also, Jess is there to guide us, and Matt will tell us what to do, and you will…I don't know, shoot things before they get to us!" Becker smiled at me.

"And what will you do?"

"I'll be right next to you, shooting everything you miss." I grinned at him, a rarity for me.

"I don't miss."

"That's what you say now, but later on you will need my help to take one of these creatures down, whether it be your lack of aim, or lack of firepower, you will need me."

(A/N): Yeah, Mercedes isn't really that good with words. Hope you liked this chapter though!


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N): Hey guys! Hope you've had a great time since I last updated! So this is the new chapter, set in basically the webisode 5 before season 4, where Matt mentions the Iguanodon in the Beauty school. By the way, I'm not spelling so good tonight, so if you see any mistakes, you know what's caused them is lack of sleep.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Sadie, Jacob, Eliza and Elizabeth.

Edit: Hey guys, yeah, this chapters edited slightly, I only just realized that the EMD's arrived int he first episode of season four, so they technically wouldn't have them in this one, so I had to change it. Sorry.

Sadie

I jogged down the stairs towards Jess as she sat at the ADD, her fingertips dashing across the keyboard as the alarm blared loudly.

"What do we got?" I asked, grabbing a black box and an earpiece from the desk in front of her, slipping the box onto my belt and the earpiece into my ear.

"Anomaly alert, obviously." I raised an eyebrow at her attempted joke, causing her expression to turn serious. "Right. Well, we have an anomaly at these coordinates, from the satellite feed pictures it looks to be a beauty school." I nodded, glancing at the screen again before speeding up the stairs again and out into the elevator. I hit the button for the car park after the others had piled in, the ride awkwardly silent, the only sound being the cheesy elevator music. We rushed to thee cars, Becker sliding into the driver's side seat while I climbed into the passengers, Matt claiming a different truck to himself. I slid my seat belt clip into place just as Becker fired up the car, his right foot was just as trigger happy as he was apparently. My stomach lurched slightly as he sped around a sharp corner, approaching our destination, the beauty school. As Becker braked sharply, launching us forward in our seats I sent him a glare before inspecting the building in front of us. The place was the usual red bricks with the first story being mostly windows, the double doors made of glass with metal handles. On either side of the doors were red posters, all advertising different types of makeup. The top story came out over the first in a veranda type structure, the front open with only green mesh blinds as dividers, and even they were rolled up. In the middle of the second story, directly above the entrance doors was a large semi circle window. All across the top story was 'Empire Beauty School' in white writing, a sign in front with a gold background and a black, lower case e. We both stopped at the back of the truck, Becker letting down the tailgate so that we could grab the tranq guns out of the back. I plugged the ammo into the tranq gun and slid it into the side of my belt, my finger ready at the trigger. Matt joined us with his own tranq and we started towards the school. We pushed open the doors Jess had unlocked for us via her computer. Becker spun to the left a Matt did the same to the right, and I continued straight, down the passage to the next room, looking around one corner before the other. I went out through the passageway on the left, meeting up with Becker before continuing forwards towards the main back room. As we entered the room we encountered tow things, one being Matt, on the other side of the room, and two: a large dinosaur in the middle of the room.

"Iguanodon. Bernissartensis I think." I commented, inspecting the over sized lizard before me. "Herbivore from the early Cretaceous, estimated to have weighed around three tonnes. Ten meters long at full length, though some possibly up to thirteen meters. Toothless beak and large thumb spikes are the most distinctive features, along with the long but narrow skull." The boys stared at me for a second before turning their attention back to the creature in front of us.

"What, I can't have the knowledge sometimes?" I asked rhetorically, shaking my head. "So what do you say, tranq it heavily then get a flat bed here to move it?"

"It's a possibility, but I don't think we have that much on us, do you?" I shook my head, grimacing.

"Or a flat bed." Becker intoned helpfully, his eyes still trained on the Iguanodon. I heard a click behind me before a flash went off, startling the Iguanodon. I spun round and grabbed a camera from a teenage girl who was blowing gum, her friend had lipstick smeared in a line from the side of her lips, clearly she had been shocked enough by the creature to keep on applying the lipstick. I pushed the girls form the room, dragging them out the front door as heavy thuds and bangs sounded from the room behind me. I pushed them into the nearest soldier.

"Keep an eye on them." I growled, spinning and running back inside, ducking as a shot form Matt's gun almost hit me in the face. Heaving him off of the ground, I aimed at the Iguanodon, hitting it at the same time as Becker, making it tipsy before shooting it again, finally rendering the creature unconscious. "Well that was fun." I panted, letting go of Matt's arm as he righted himself, heading back towards the entrance behind Becker.

"Fun? More like disastrous! The thing just went insane!" Becker exclaimed, gesturing back at the Iguanodon with his head.

"It was only spooked by the flash from that girls camera." Becker and Matt turned to stare at me.

"What girl?" I stared at them funny before gesturing at them through the window.

"Those girls! Honesty, didn't you notice me rush them out?" I threw Matt the camera before continuing out the door.

"Not really." Becker admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand in a sheepish gesture.

"I wonder what they were doing here, it's a Saturday, no school. I would think they'd want to be far away from here by now." I said, glancing around as I put the tranq gun back in its case.

"You'll make sure the clan up happens." I commanded a nearby soldier, who nodded before rushing off to do just that. "We need a way of transporting a Iguanodon Jess, any ideas?" I asked her over the comms as I leaned against the tailgate of the car.

"Well, you could use a flat bed." The boys glanced at me before chuckling. "What did I say?" Jess asked worriedly, hearing their laughter at her suggestion.

"Their just laughing at the fact that we suggested the same thing Jess, not at the fact that you suggested it."

"Oh." She said before switching to the other line to order a flat bed to come pick up the iguanodon. "Well you know what they say. Great minds think alike and all that." I smiled and chuckled, folding up the tailgate as the flat bed truck arrived, rumbling up the street.

"Yeah. We'll be back at the ARC in no time Jess." I said, watching as the men tried to lift the iguanodon out of the school. "Actually, I think this might take a while." I sighed, walking back inside as an idea struck me. "Guys!" Everyone in the room stopped to stare at me. "Obviously, normal humans can't lift heavy, three tonne dinosaurs, so unless you all start growing super powers, I suggest you listen!" I pulled a large white curtain off the wall before throwing it to Matt on the other side of the Iguanodon.

"If we put those underneath, hopefully we can drag it out of her, the halls should be big enough." Everyone grabbed a curtain, shoving it under the animals side before grabbing an edge each. "1…2…3, heave!" Everyone started dragging, or in the case of the people on Matt's side, pushing. Eventually we managed to get it outside, where the crane we ordered lifted it onto the back of the flat bed truck.

"We're done Jess, we'll be back at the ARC soon."

(A/N): Hope you guys liked this chapter! All the facts about the Iguanodon are from Wikipedia.


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N): Hey guys! As I'm sure you may have noticed, Sadie isn't exactly perfectly normal, and there's a reason for that, it will be explained, but not for some time yet. I've decided that I'm going to set up a blog on Tumblr for this story tomorrow so that I can show you guys pictures of what the characters and places not in the show look like, I would put a link to them separately on my profile, but I don't know how to upload them to a different site to link it to, nor will I ever be able to find some of the character pics again. It will be called 'Be Careful What You Wish For Primeval FF' considering tis the only Primeval fanfic called that. Byee! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mercedes, Jacob, Elizabeth and Eliza!

Sadie

I jumped out of my chair as a loud alarm rang out across the ARC. I ran over to Jess as she sat in her chair at the ADD, her fingers racing across the keyboard, he eyes fixed on the screen in front of her.

"What's going on?" I asked, staying out the way of her chair-rolling track, leaning over shoulder so she could hear me over the alarm.

"It's all my fault! I released the airlock on the Menagerie too early. They were doing maintenance work and the creature got out!" I patted her on the shoulder comfortingly as she repeated the problem to Matt over the comm's. "It's moving into the corridor by lab three!" She informed us, the feed on the screen showing just that. "Matt!" She typed something in and the feed form the security camera expanded to fill the whole screen, showing Matt only meters from the dragon-like creature. "Backup needed, south corridor by lab three! South corridor!" Jess ordered over the speaker system. I gasped quietly as the creature slammed into the metal tray Matt was holding, knocking him clean off his feet. "Are you okay?" Jess asked concernedly over the comms. "Matt? Can you hear me?" A moment of silence in which Matt answered her. "I've just got to back up the system, this is all my fault!" Jess forced the system shutdown as I grabbed her by the shoulders, dragging her out of the main hub area and into the break room. As we slid around a column we heard and saw the Dracorex come bounding into the room via the hall in front and to the left of us. It knocked over a metal trolley and continued towards us. I steered Jess out of the way by her shoulders, leading her behind another column as the elevator doors slid open, Lester exiting through them.

"Would someone mind telling me what on earth is going…on…." He trailed off, looking up from the phone he held in his hands. Matt and another soldier jogged down the same hall as the Dracorex had while Becker came from the one behind us, the one that lead back to the main hub.

"Hey!" Becker shouted, getting the creatures attention, keeping it at bay with a pole usually used to catch the creatures. "Tranq guns, now!" He ordered the soldier that had raced in behind him, causing the man to run off in search of one.

"Now there! Nice dragon! Down boy, sit!" Jess ordered the Dracorex, her eyes as big as saucers as she did so.

"Actually it's a girl." Matt informed her as he lifted the water container off the water cooler and heading towards the creature. I caught Matt's eye and gestured over to where Lester was standing. Matt nodded, and I pushed Jess from behind the column as he slammed the bottle on the ground. I pushed Lester and Jess back towards the wall as I watched Matt and the Dracorex intently.

"Here princess." Matt called, his eyes fixed firmly on the creature. "Come on."

"Purely as a matter of interest, what's it doing in here?" Lester asked the room, his eyes still fixated on the creature so he didn't see Jess gulp.

"We'll get to that later." Matt said, still directing the dragon into the nearest empty office, which happened to be Lester's. "Come on."

"No, no, no, no, not my office!" Lester exclaimed quietly, not wanting to get the creatures attention but still show his displeasure for the idea.

"Come on girl." Matt said as he swished the water in the bottle around, attracting the thirsty Dracorex to it. "There you go." He said after pouring some of the water into a metal bin in the office. "Have a drink." Matt dodged around the Dracorex as it started to drink, making his way out into the break room, closing the door to Lester's office behind him.

"Right. So there was, nowhere else it could go?" Lester asked Matt.

"I was improvising." Matt explained as Becker left to go get the tranquillizer gun he had ordered. I watched as the Dracorex roared at us through the glass, the usually enormous roar only a whisper through the soundproof glass.

"You know I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for all this. Ummm?" He said, gesturing between us three with his fingers before stopping on Jess. "Jess?"

"It was-" Jess started, but Matt cut her off.

"It was my fault James. Won't happen again, sorry. I was over seeing some maintenance at the menagerie. Problem with the airlock, the Dracorex got spooked and bolted. Won't happen again." Matt apologized, though three people, and possibly four by the look on Lester's face, knew that it was a lie. Lester looked between us all one last time before stepping closer to the Dracorex, watching it now destroying his office.

"You know I could have been ambassador to Moscow by now, maybe even capital secretary, but instead I'm watching a _dinosaur_ trash my office. Still, no regrets." He said sarcastically before walking out.

"Becker's going to tranq it." Matt informed us, causing us to look at the Dracorex trapped in Lester's office. "Shouldn't be long now." Matt finished as Becker entered the room, closing the door behind him, tranq gun raised at the creature.

"Don't you think you should help him?" Jess asked us both, flicking us glances as she watched Becker aim the gun.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Matt asked, causing Jess to look at me for help.

"My apologies to Becker, but I've done my damsel rescuing for today." She looked vaguely offended and slightly amused at my comment before turning back to watch Becker again. Becker shot a tranq dart at the Dracorex, and we three on the outside watched as the creature hit the glass, the side of its head dragging down it in a comical fashion.

"I'll have, uh, sleeping beauty moved to the menagerie." Becker announced as he reached our small group, glancing back at the Dracorex, which was now crumpled on the ground.

"Good work, meet me in the armory in an hour." Matt ordered Becker and I, starting to leave.

"Why?" Becker asked, glancing between Matt, Jess and myself as he did so.

"Haven't you heard? The EMD's have arrived." Jess informed him, causing him to look further confused.

"The Electro Muscular Disruption weapons." I intoned helpfully, Becker glancing at me, recognition shining in his eyes.

"Ah yes, the toy guns."

""If the toy guns had been here this morning, this wouldn't have happened." Matt argued, walking off to the armory.

An hour later, Becker and I headed down to the armory. Jess had left us some time ago, being dragged into helping with the EMD's by Matt.

"You're late." Matt declared as we entered the room, throwing us guns each.

"Ooh excellent, tasers!" Becker exclaimed, flipping his EMD right way up.

"These are different to any tasers you've ever used in the past." Matt informed us as we inspected them, flipping them over in our hands to get a good look at them. "I wouldn't have designed it if it didn't work." That got my attention. Matt had designed these? Awesome.

"You need to remember how many friends I've lost. I'm not going to risk anymore lives playing around with pea shooters." Becker argued, lifting up the telescopic sight to look through it.

"The EMD can be adapted to three basic levels. Low, medium and high voltage depending on what you're using it for." Jess explained.

"Yeah, I know what they do Jess." Becker said, pointing the gun at a spot a few feet away from where he was standing.

"I don't think he believes us." Jess informed Matt, walking back over near him.

"This is nothing like you've ever experienced before." Matt told Becker in a dull voice, he was clearly getting bored of having to argue with Becker over every single detail.

"Okay. Try it." Becker said, tossing his EMD back to Matt and backing up a few steps. "I mean it, shock me. If I think its an effective weapon, I'll use it. If not, you back down." Becker compromised, coming to a stop a few meters away.

"You really, really don't want me to do that Becker." Matt advised, holding the EMD in one hand as Becker smiled, his hands clasped together.

"Oh I do. Come on Matt, show me what you've got." Becker said, holding fast.

"Matt, you can't." Jess exclaimed as Matt started readying the weapon. "Will you stop being such a pair of kids?" Becker cracked his neck to both sides, preparing himself.

"He started it." Matt replied, aiming the EMD at Becker's chest as he did so. "It's okay, he'll live. Probably." Matt added, tilting his head slightly in uncertainty.

"Have you fired it y-" Becker's words were cut off, however, when the EMD shot hit his chest, launching him backwards onto the floor behind him.

"Are you okay?" Jess inquired as she rushed over, crouching by his side.

"That was the lowest setting on the smallest version of the weapon. The highest designed to bring down a Tyrannosaurus Rex." Matt informed Becker as he lay coughing on the ground. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Becker's legs as he lay flat on the floor, offering my hand.

"Need some help?" I asked, causing him to glance up at me, and then at my hand before taking the offer, allowing me to help him up.

Some time later Jess and I headed back to the hub. She climbed the stairs and walked past Lester's office just as he exited, leaving me to lean against the metal railing overlooking the main hub floor.

"Jess, I need you to hack into Philip's private diary, next time he has lunch with the minister, I want to know about it."

"No private hacking." Jess denied, walking past him and away.

"Excuse me? Whatever happened to blind obedience?" I smiled at this.

"It went the same way as chivalry, unfortunately." Lester turned to stare at me for a second before walking back into his office.

"Of course." I heard him mutter to himself.

(A/N:P.S): I made Mercedes, Elizabeth, Jacob and Eliza as a family in the Sims 2 today. Eliza is currently at college, Jacob is unemployed, Elizabeth is almost top in Law Enforcement and Mercedes is top of the military career! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as it very late and I am now going to bed. Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N): Hey guys! This chapter is super long at 3,313 words without this pesky Authors Note! Hope you enjoy it, plus the banter between Matt, Becker and Sadie.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Sadie, Jacob, Elizabeth, Eliza, and the woman with the folder.

Sadie

A few days later I spent most of my time at work that day spinning around in my desk chair, staring at the ceiling boredly. That is, however, up until the anomaly alert started going off. I grabbed the smaller EMD from the drawer of my desk and sped across the floor to Jess's side as she manned the ADD. I grabbed a black box from the side of her desk as her fingers danced across the keys, her voice transmitting through everyone's ear piece's.

"Map coordinates 77425. Route down loaded to all Black Box units, estimated journey time…eleven minutes." I slipped the Black Box onto my waist and headed for the elevator, reaching it just as Matt, Becker and the other soldiers did. A soldier jabbed the button for the underground car park, leaving the rest of us with nothing else to do but listen to the horribly dull elevator music that droned through the sound system in the corner. I breathed in the refreshingly cold air of the outside world before we piled into the trucks, Becker and I in one and four soldiers in another. I clipped in my seat belt reluctantly as Becker wouldn't let me drive his precious truck.

"I don't see why I should be the one forced to sit in the passenger seat." I grumbled as Becker sped out of the underground car park exit and into the city above. I cringed every time he went around a sharp corner at high speeds, or when he swerved around traffic. My stomach lurched lightly as he squealed around the last corner, slowing down slightly as he continued down the road before braking hard behind the truck filled with soldiers in front of us. We unbuckled our seat belts almost in unison as we watched the soldiers in the car in front get out point their guns at something we couldn't see. I pushed open my door and slid the EMD from my belt into my hand, lifting it halfway so I'd be ready to shoot if anything rushed at me. We started to rush over but Becker held out an arm to stop me as a soldier locked the anomaly shut with the ALD. Becker continued slowly towards the things the soldiers had swarmed, which we now recognized as people. Becker crouched down in front of them.

"I hope you've brought me back a souvenir." He joked, holding his hands out to the two people lying face down on the ground, people I now recognized as Abby Maitland and Connor Temple from the pictures Jess had shown me. They grabbed his hands, standing up. They all glanced between each other for a few seconds before Abby grabbed Becker in a hug, soon accompanied by Connor.

"Where the hell have you been?" Becker asked as they pulled back, staring at them in shock and disbelief.

"You know…here and there." Connor replied, glancing back at the locked up anomaly. "We would have called but the reception was terrible."

"We came looking for you. We sent four missions, we tried everything." Becker explained, still staring at them.

"It doesn't matter now, we're back and everything is gonna be just fine." Abby said, switching her gaze to Connor's.

"We did it." He whispered, returning her gaze. "Yes!" The two hugged fiercely, large grins on their faces, Becker smiling at them.

"So where's Danny?" Becker asked after they had parted and were now starting to walk back towards the car, towards us.

"Is he not with you?" Connor asked, stopping to turn around to face him as Matt exited his car that had pulled up next to me.

"No, he never made it back." Becker replied, glancing between his old comrades. "Matt I'd like to introduce you to two of my friends-"

"Abby Maitland. Connor Temple. It's great to meet you." Matt said quickly, cutting Becker off. "I'm Matt Anderson, I'll have someone escort you back to the ARC." He beckoned me forward over his shoulder and I rolled my eyes.

"Although I'm sure I'm a lot safer driver than Becker, I would rather you get one of the soldiers who are actually allowed to drive Becker's car to take them." Matt raised an eyebrow with a slight smile on his face.

"I'm sure Becker would let you just this once." Matt said, turning to Becker with the same slight smile accompanied by a light glare. I, however, rolled my eyes at him.

"Becker, if you let me drive I will crash the car on purpose." I cocked an eyebrow to let him know that I was _not_ joking."

"Sorry Matt, but I'm siding with the girl on this one, I like that truck to much to let her crash it." Matt shook his head.

"Fine, fine, I'll just get one of the other soldiers to drive them back." Matt sighed, walking off to go find someone. I smirked at his back before turning to Abby and Connor.

"I'm Mercedes Crest, though I prefer Sadie. You must be Abby and Connor, Jess keeps telling me about you." They shared confused looks.

"Jess?" Becker chuckled from behind them.

"She's our new field coordinator." He informed them, tapping his earpiece as Matt arrived back.

"Keep three men on site until the anomaly closes." Matt instructed Becker and I.

"And the rest on a half mile exclusion perimeter." Becker added, walking away to tell his men.

"Hang on, you don't need to wait until it closes, I can do it for you." Connor said, pulling a strange contraption from the backpack he held. "It works, believe me." Connor assured Matt, stepping forward, pointing the device at the anomaly.

"Used it before." Abby added, watching Connor as she did so.

"Now you see it…" He said as Becker arrived back at our side. "Give it a sec." He shook the device slightly and the anomaly unlocked itself. "Yeah, that's not supposed to happen." He remarked as a silvery material drifted out of the anomaly.

"That's my blanket." Abby said, staring at the silver blanket before a large creature came through the anomaly, looking rather violent and threatening as it stomped past us, roaring its head off. I pushed Abby back between Matt's truck and another parked car, out of the way of the creature I was pretty sure was a Spinosaurus, Becker doing the same with Connor on the other side of the road.

"Jess, we got a large theropod. I need you to grid map the area in a two mile radius." Matt ordered Jess over the radio as he climbed into the passenger seat of the car, Becker in the drivers as I climbed into the back.

"It's a Spinosaurus." I informed him, only for Connor to say the same thing through the window.

"Yeah, just give me the biggest local space you can." Matt said over the comm's. I held my breath as Becker spun us around in the middle of the street, tearing after the Spinosaurus. I gulped as Becker slammed on the breaks at a street corner, watching as the Spinosaurus stomped past on the next street over before taking off again.

"We need to form a corral somehow." Matt suggested, looking to the side for the creature.

"Not in this." He nodded to a garbage truck we were coming up on. "We need something bigger." Becker braked again after turning so that he was positioned in a way so that the driver couldn't leave. Matt jumped out and commandeered the garbage truck from the driver, hoisting himself into the cab while I jumped over the Center console and into the passenger seat, strapping myself in quickly as Becker floored the car, Matt starting the truck behind us.

"There's an arena a mile to the North-West, the access doors are already open, just get the creature to it." Jess instructed us over the radio, her voice echoing through our earpieces.

"Becker, Sadie, where are you?" Matt asked over the comm system.

"Two streets over." Becker and I answered at the same time, Becker's hands steadfast on the steering wheel and mine clasped tightly on the side of my chair and the other on the handle attached to the roof.

"We're going to have to get it into this arena." Matt stated the blindingly obvious over the radio as we sped down the streets of London.

"Well by the signs, I think it wants to go somewhere else." Becker said, glancing at it through my window after it.

"Well then persuade it otherwise." Matt suggested. As we followed the Spinosaurus down the street we saw two male teenagers standing at the side of the road, one holding a mobile phone aimed directly at the creature. Becker pulled up next to them and grabbed the phone from the kid.

"Is this insured?" Becker asked, holding up the phone to the kid who nodded fearfully. "Good, and you, get a haircut." He said to the other boy with the hair past his shoulders before driving off again, only driving a block or two further before turning into the street opposite Matt's truck, almost blocking the Spinosaurus in, but not quite due to the size difference.

"Alright Matt, here we are. What now?" Becker asked over the radio, leaning out of the car slightly.

"Your guess is as good as mine."  
>"Matt!" Becker yelled out of the window as the Spinosaurus turned and charged at Matt's garbage truck. The creature struck the truck hard, the entire truck rocked back roughly before it righted itself on all four wheels again. The Spinosaurus paused as a horn rang out, and turned its head as one of the other ARC vehicles came to a stop down the road from Matt's garbage truck. The creature charged towards the truck, following it as the driver reversed and drove around the corner, out of sight. Becker drove over to Matt's truck as he climbed from the cab, shards of glass raining down onto the road.<p>

"We need to get it into the arena!" Becker yelled out the window to Matt.

"Jess you need to talk to Abby and Connor over the comms, get them to lead it to the arena!" I instructed her over the radio. Matt climbed into the back seat quickly and pulled on his seat belt as Becker slammed on the accelerator pedal. I grasped the side handle as Becker slid around the corner behind the Spinosaurus.

"Matt the arena doors are open so you're good to go." Jess informed us over the radio as we turned a right, the now open arena doors in sight. We followed Abby, Connor and the Spinosaurus into the arena, parking on the side closest to the doors and piling out onto the concrete floor of the arena, grabbing the guns from the back of the truck. I pulled the smaller EMD from my belt, backing up with the others into a opening near the entrance doors, EMD aimed at the Spinosaurus just in case it attacked while the others were unpacking their various EMD weapons. Becker started preparing a rifle EMD while the others and I aimed the EMD's at the creature just in case.

"Okay, stand by." Matt ordered, keeping his eyes on the Spinosaurus.

"All units in position, fire on my command." Becker instructed over the radio, leveling the rifle EMD he was holding at the overly large lizard in front of us as Connor raced out from behind a lifting machine and into the line of the Spinosaurus.

"What the hell is he playing at?" Matt asked incredulously as he caught sight of Connor.

"Hold your fire, hold your fire!" I ordered over the radio, all the soldiers dropping their weapons slightly.

"Does he do this kind of thing often?" Matt asked Becker, switching his gaze between the Spinosaurus and Connor as he did so.

"Yeah, every now and again." Becker replied, lowering his weapon slightly as he glanced at Connor.

"And how does it normally turn out?" Matt asked, his gaze now on Becker, who tilted his hand from side to side to show that the events turned out about fifty-fifty. "We can't risk firing with Connor in the way!" Matt exclaimed, grabbing a pack from the back of the truck and running off with another soldier. As the Spinosaurus turned on Connor, managing to get within feet of him the music started blaring across the arena, effectively taking its attention away from Connor to snap at the lights above its head. The team of soldiers holding guns spread out, moving closer to Connor while trying to avoid catching the attention of the Spinosaurus.

"Connor, get clear!" Becker yelled, being one of the soldiers close enough to Connor that he might actually be able to hear.

"Connor, grab hold!" Matt called as he sailed down from the rafters in a harness, reaching his arm out to Connor as he did so. "Take us up!" Matt called as Connor took hold of his wrist, still fiddling around with the device he held in his free hand. The Spinosaurus lunged at them, missing them by inches as they were winched back up. "Connor, grab me with both hands!" Matt commanded, the strain of holding Connor showing on his face.

"Now!" I ordered, firing along with Becker as the Spinosaurus started to lung up at Matt and Connor. The Spinosaurus fell to the ground, heavily stunned. Matt's face was aglow with relief, but seconds later his expression turned to surprise and fear as the rope above him jammed and the Spinosaurus started to get up. As the Spinosaurus lunged at them again Connor dropped the device and grabbed Matt with both hands, the object falling directly into the creature's mouth, an anomaly opening in its stomach, folding it in on itself and through before closing quickly after it.

Abby and Connor's mouths hung open as we entered the main hub floor through the elevator, which was a bit cramped I might add.

"This is…this is some pretty sexy stuff." Connor commented, his eyebrows raised, his mouth slightly slack.

"Don't tell me, you missed the last bus home and had to walk." Lester said from his doorway off to the side.

"Somethin' like that." Connor said after glancing back at Abby, who had also turned to stare at Lester.

"It's so good to see you!" Whispered, flinging her arms around his neck in a hug he begrudgingly returned.

"You too." He replied as Connor started walking towards him like he was going to hug him.

"Ooh, I think the points been well made, don't you?" Lester said to him, taking a step back to put some distance between him and Connor.

"Probably." Connor agreed, still grinning at him goofily.

"Welcome back." Lester said before leading them down the stairs into the main hub center, the rest of us following as we approached Jess's station.

"So, Danny?" Lester asked Connor carefully as he walked.

"He went on ahead of us. Whatever happened, he must've taken Helen down with him."

"Right." Lester said, glancing down at his feet before looking up at where Jess was sitting.

"Wow. Now that is one…serious upgrade." Connor stated, taking in the ADD as Jess swung around in her chair. "Hello."

"Hello! I'm Jess. So good to finally meet you guys. Becker's told me everything." They turned to Becker, who rolled his eyes. "You guys are like, legends around here."

"Cheers mate." Connor said, still staring at Jess.

"Whatever, I thought you were dead." Becker replied, not looking at them.

"Where's Sarah?" Abby asked, glancing around leaving Becker speechless.

"Abby. Connor. I can't tell you what a relief it is to see you two." I rolled my eyes, turning slightly so he wouldn't see me. I didn't like Philip Burton since the moment I met him. Sure, he had a brilliant mind, but he was fake and manipulating, the two things I hated the most. "Forgive me-"

"Philip Burton." Connor stated, staring at him in awe, eliciting another eye roll from me, one that Becker, Jess and Matt all caught. "I know. This is the man who built the room temperature super conductor, eh?"

"Um…wow?" Abby mumbled, glancing between Connor and Burton as she did so.

"Wow? Yeah. He's like a living legend! If all the Fantastic Four were rolled into one, he's look kind of like this." Connor said, waving Burton up and down for emphasis. "But not be a super hero obviously, he's more of a science nerd."

"Thank you for the compliment, I think." Philip said, unsure of what to think.

"Yeah, no, it was meant as a- I'm just over excited. Why are you here?" Connor asked, still staring at him.

"After the catastrophe of your last trip, the government decided the ARC would benefit from private sector management." Lester supplied, glancing at Philip.

"Catastrophe?" Abby asked, confused.

"It was a bad time for all of us." Lester replied, looking down at his expensive Italian shoes.

"There was a demand for new thinking, you understand. New resources. Things had to change, but we'll discuss all of this later. You two need to be debriefed, I want every detail."

"I can't believe that I'm going to be working with…unnng, Philip Burton!" Connor said, gesturing to Burton as he did so, Abby staring at him in disbelief.

"James, why don't we continue this in your office?" Burton suggested, leading them both past the rest of us as he did so, Lester going with him as the four of us left leaned against a table, watching them.

"So harsh." Jess commented as we watched them, Becker glancing over at her.

"Yeah." I whispered, staring at their backs, feeling bad for them. A woman carrying a folder strode over, handing the file to Matt, causing him to stare at her inquisitively.

"Lester asked me to give this to you." She informed him before scurrying off.

"What is it?" Jess and I asked at the same time, the three of us not holding the file leaning over to see it. Matt opened it to the first page, scanning it before shutting it.

"I can't believe this! Apparently, we've been assigned an extra team member, who we have to run all of our decisions through, and if he doesn't agree, we can't go through with them!" I smiled at Matt's anger. "The positions called a 'councilor'!" Matt exclaimed, disbelieving while I chuckled quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" Jess asked, noticing my laughter and drawing their attention to it.

"Oh nothing, nothing, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what I'm laughing about." I said, walking back to my desk and picking up my bag, heading home for the day.

(A/N): Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it took so long to write!


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N): Hey Guys! Sorry it took me so long to update this story, I was busy with school, life and working on my 18 _other_ stories. However this is a long one, so I hope you like it!

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><p>Sadie<p>

I didn't bother straightening my hair this morning, I had slept through my alarm, only waking up when Jacob shook me awake. I got dressed in a pair of tight black pants that I could move easily in, a tight, red, long sleeve shirt and my black leather jacket, accompanied by my pair of black combat boots. I shoveled a piece of buttered toast in my mouth before brushing my teeth hurriedly before returning to the kitchen to get a drink of water to remove the taste of toothpaste from my mouth.

"Calm down, we'll make it there on time." The reason Jacob said we, was because _he_ was the new Councillor. Now you see why I had found it all so funny. He was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a white singlet and a black leather jacket just like mine, with a pair of shiny black shoes on his feet. Before we left, there was a knock at the door, and I stood up to let them in. Standing in the door was Annabel, Jacob's mother and basically mine, with her greying blonde hair and softly wrinkled face. She was only fifty something, and adored Eliza, Elizabeth and I, treating us as if we were her daughters. Then again, she basically was our mother, seeing as Elizabeth and I had run away from home at sixteen to live with Jacob after he had found out that….it doesn't matter. Anyway, she was here to babysit Eliza while we were at work.

"Good morning dear." Annabel greeted me warmly with a hug before kissing Jacob on the cheek.

"Morning. Eliza's in the backroom, and we really need to get going." I winced before adding something nicer, feeling bad for brushing her off. "Sorry, but I slept through the alarm." She smiled at me understandingly before starting towards Eliza's room. Jacob and I exited the apartment and headed down the hallway, still rubbing our eyes free of sleep. Jacob beat me to the car, so I let him drive, slumping in the passenger seat resignedly. We owned a Jeep Cherokee classic, made in 1996, a big, attractive looking car I liked almost as much as the ARC trucks. The outside was white, the inside a mix of tan leather and carpet.

I sighed as I climbed out of the car, dropping to the floor with a quiet thump before closing the door, waiting for the blip of the remote lock. My stomach twisted as I saw Becker a few rows over, making his way to the elevator.

"You coming?" I asked Jacob, noticing he wasn't next to me.

"I just got to get something, go on ahead." I smiled at how un-organised he was, shaking my head with a chuckle before making my way over to the elevator. Becker held the doors open as he noticed me heading his way, and I reconsidered what I had said to Lester about chivalry being dead. He let the doors slide closed and I leaned against the back wall, staring up at the top of the doors, wanting to avoid talking to Becker at the moment. I don't know why, I just didn't feel like talking to him at the moment. Unfortunately, it seemed like he wanted to talk to me.

"So, what's this surprise you want us to see?" I turned my head to look at him, my arms crossed over my chest as I blinked at him owlishly.

"You'll see." I murmured before the elevator doors slid open, admitting us into the hub. Just as I was about to walk out of the elevator, Becker reached over and grabbed a lock of my hair, twisting it around his index finger, his knuckles brushing against my face.

"Your hairs curly." He stated almost curiously, staring at me. I shrugged and walked into the hub, ignoring Jess completely to make my way tot he break room, Jess and Becker following me, Matt already there.

I grabbed a Styrofoam cup from the table and tipped a heaped teaspoon of coffee powder into my cup before pouring boiling water from the kettle in, adding the milk soon after before taking a sip, sighing in relief as the taste of the caffeine instantly hit me, waking me slightly.

"I wouldn't talk to her before she has her morning coffee, she tends to get pretty violent." Heard Jacob say from the doorway he was leaning against, only having just arrived.

"And who, are you?" Matt asked suspiciously, staring at him as he lent against the table.

"Ah Jacob, I see Sadie got you here, albeit not exactly on time." I blushed as they all looked at me, not wanting to explain that I had slept through my alarm.

"At least he's here." I grumbled, pouring myself another cup of coffee.

"Yes, well, let's get down to business, shall we? Everyone, this is Jacob Gibbons, he is the new Councillor for the ARC. Every decision you make, you must run it through him." I could see the rest of the ARC team glaring at him, but I knew he would probably just let them do what they thought was right, unless he could think of something better. "Jacob, this is Jessica Parker, Captain Becker, and Matt Anderson. Of course, you already know Ms. Crest." He nodded, remaining as silent as he could. "He has many fine credentials, so you should all respect his decisions." Lester stared around at the team, making sure they knew what he meant. Lester spared us one last glance before he exited the Break Room.

"Morning." Jacob said awkwardly, wrangling a smile out of me, hidden skilfully by my coffee cup.

"Good morning." Jess said curtly, doing her best to glare at him.

"Look, could you please all stop glaring at me? To be frank, it's kind of unnerving." He shucked off his Jacket, hanging it over the back of a chair, showing off his muscled arms, coated as they were with tattoos. The one I loved the most was on his left wrist, and it said: R.I.P: E.J.C.G.

Elizabeth Jean Crest Gibbons, my sisters name.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Becker asked, a strange tone in his voice…was that…protectiveness?

"We live together." That didn't really explain much, and it definitely gave my friends the wrong idea.

"I always figured you the type to be married to your job." Matt remarked, and I glared daggers at him.

"Oh no, not like that." Jacob interjected, causing them all to stare at him again.

"Jacob's my brother in law. Well, technically my ex-brother in law." I explained, downing the last of my coffee.

"Well, if he's your ex-brother in law, why do you live with him? I would of thought you would've taken your sisters side in that type of thing." Matt said, and I turned to glare at him sharply.

"Death isn't exactly something you take sides in." I said darkly before exiting the room, Jacob in tow, to sit down in my chair in the hub.

"Well that was depressing." I smiled at him lightly. Since Elizabeth had died, Jacob, Annabel and Eliza were the only people I truly smiled to. Heck, maybe even before then. I mean, I wasn't exactly the most trusting person in the world, not after…well, that doesn't matter.

"What's with that Becker guy?" I glanced over at him, then at Becker, who I could see through the door to the break room, staring directly at me.

"He went to Sandhurst, like we did, before he was transferred to the special operations unit, and assigned to the ARC team."

"No, I meant with him and you." My head snapped up again and I stared at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" He rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow, staring at me.

"You know what I mean. Do you like him? Does he like you?" I hit him lightly on the arm with a shocked smile on my face.

"No! You wouldn't exactly be the first person I'd talk to this type of thing about anyway." He rolled his eyes again with a grin plastered on his face.

"Well who would you tell?" I considered it for a minute before deciding.

"Eliza or Annabel. Annabel because she's like the mother I never had, and Eliza because she wouldn't understand me." He smiled and nodded, thinking it over.

"I think he does."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Like you. Becker I mean. The entire time I was in their he kept glaring at me, it was different than the others glares though." I rolled my eyes and shrugged him off.

"Riggght, I'm just betting that he doesn't want his authority taken away by the likes of you."

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><p>(AN): So, Sadie has a secret does she? If you can guess what it is, private message me and I'll tell you if you are correct or not. The first person to get it right gets a chapter dedicated to them!


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N): Hey Guys! I know it's been a while since I last uploaded, but I really do love this story, and I'm not going to try and rush it if I think I might ruin it. I hope you like this chapter, even though it's basically filler. I really am not looking forward to writing the next actual episode chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter and review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Sadie, Jacob, Elizabeth, Eliza and Annabel!

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><p>Sadie<p>

Jacob and I sat in our chairs opposite each other, spinning slightly from side to side as we held our staring match. His cheek twitched, my eyes watered, he grimaced, I bit my lip, he blinked and I won.

"Yes! Take that!" I exclaimed, jumping out of my chair, pumping my fist in the air in triumph.

"You're such a weirdo." Jacob muttered with a chuckle, grinning while rubbing his eyelids with the pads of his fingers.

"You're a weirdo!" I retorted, grinning down at him with my hands on my hips.

"I think it's well established that you're both weirdos." Jess muttered distractedly from her place at the ADD as she rifled through a pile of files.

"Aw Jess, you don't mean that do you?" I pouted at her as she turned around to look at me, raising her eyebrows.

"You're acting a whole lot cheerier today." She stated curiously, her eyebrows furrowing lightly.

"So?" I asked, sitting back down in my seat across from Jacob.

"Never mind." She said with a sigh, glancing down at her shoes before looking back up. "How long have you two known each other?" Jacob and I grinned simultaneously.

"Just over twelve years." Jacob replied with a quiet chuckle.

"So you were…wow, I just realised I have no idea how old you guys are." Jess stated, surprised yet amused at the same time.

"We're twenty-four Jess. We've known each other since we were twelve. Lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, how could we not become best friends?" I asked rhetorically, staring her in the eye.

"So…if you don't mind me asking but…how did she die? Your sister?" Jess asked cautiously while I struggled against the deliberate itch of the tears wanting to form behind my eyes.

"Childbirth." I struggled out, trying to shrug it off nonchalantly as I saw Jacob go pale.

"Ah." She said quietly, averting her eyes to her lap where her hands were grasped. "So…did…did the kid live?" I smiled at her and nodded. "What's their name?" She asked quietly, a small smile on her lips.

"Her names Eliza Annabel Gibbons, after her mom." Jacob told her, still pale but with a small smile on his lips.

"Aw! That's beautiful!" Jess gushed, probably glad to get off the topic of my dead sister.

"What's beautiful?" Matt asked as he and Becker approached us.

"Jacob was just telling me about his daughter." Jacob and I winced at the same time as Becker and Matt raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

"Oh really? You have a daughter?" Matt asked, leaning against a table, smirking that adorable Irish smirk at Jacob. Not adorable like I'm in love with him, but adorable I would say that Eliza is adorable. He's just so cute! I looked up to see Jacob looking at me, one eyebrow raised, a grin on his face.

"You just had a mother hen moment didn't you?" I nodded, scowling slightly.

"Mother hen moment?" Abby asked as she entered the room, probably looking to talk to Jess.

"It's when a woman thinks something maternal about someone that isn't her child, or in Sade's case, her niece." Jacob elaborated, spinning around in his chair in a full circle before steadying himself.

"Pants." The others turned to stare at me and I shrugged before returning my gaze to Jacob as he chuckled.

"Drunk." I gasped in fake anger, shaking a finger in his face.

"I didn't know the nicknames were supposed to be true! You forget that I have leverage on everyone! Slut..." His head snapped around and he glared at me.

"Again, _drunk_."

"Again, _slut_." I retorted, glaring at him, for real this time. I had started drinking rather heavily after Elizabeth's death and had become an alcoholic. For only seven months, but still, Jacob pulled that out whenever I called him a slut. Oh yeah, the story behind that is that when we were fifteen, he went through a period we like to call his 'slut phase' where he dated any girl he could within a year. I think he dated a girl a day, which I found amazing and creepy at the same time. 'Pants' was short for smarty-pants, which Jacob truly was.

"Fine, whatever." I stared him down for a minute before nodding slowly.

"That's what I thought." I said smugly, turning to face the others, only to find them staring at us. "What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow before Jess cleared her throat.

"Let's get back to the conversation shall we? What were we talking about?" Jess suggested, looking at us all with her hands clasped together.

"The fact that Jacob here has a daughter." Abby raised her eyebrows and stared him down with a grin.

"Oh really?" She asked, sounding kind of skeptical.

"Well, yes, why would I lie about having a daughter?" They all paused for a second, thinking it over before nodding in concession.

"True." They all said together, leaving Jacob and I with our eyebrows raised.

"Okay, well, whatever. Eliza is my daughter and Sadie's niece, though we may as well cut the crap and call Eliza her daughter, they get on that well." I grinned and pulled out my phone, flipping open the screen/top bit and showed them my background image, the picture of Eliza covered in her squishy banana mix.

"Aw! That's so cute!" Abby and Jess said together and Matt's eyes widened.

"She looks an awful lot like you." He said carefully, directed at me instead of Jacob.

"Yeah well, she would be considering she's my practically identical twin sisters daughter." I replied, snapping the lid closed. I noticed Connor staring wide eyed at Abby and grinned. He must be thinking about whether she would be wanting a baby of her own soon.

"She's just over four now, and she's already as smart as most six year olds!" I rolled my eyes at Jacob's boasting, making talking signs with my hand to mock him, just as the anomaly alert started blaring.

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><p>(AN): Review!


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